Dear Insane Children, 

Here in China we’re heading into the annual Labor Day Holiday (AKA May Day AKA International Workers Day), a holiday celebrating the working class and laborers around the world. It’s linked to the 8-hour work day, socialist/communist politics, and events like Haymarket Affair in Chicago. 

In China this year, the holiday has been “extended” to four days – though it’s a sort of fake extension as two of those four days have to be recouped by working on Sundays prior to and after the holiday. All I know for sure is that the event is causing all sorts of trouble for VPN providers and those of us who use their services to get over The Great Firewall. 

Anyway, Happy Labor Day! 

Cheshire Kitten Update

While the Internet censors are hard at work trying to block our bytes, our team of artists continue their work on a plush that bites! Meow! 

Above you’ll see the latest update to the Cheshire Kitten design. Omri’s taken your feedback (most of it anyway) and incorporated it into this new design. 

Have a look and let us know what you think! 

Here’s the feedback I sent him…

 1) The lower body is now black? That’s odd. Looks like he’s wearing black chaps and underwear. Why? Suggest you remove that unless you’ve got a solid reason why it’s like that.

2) Don’t think they’ll be able to do the claws – the detail will be too small. Best to just have rounded arm-ends… maybe black paw pads.

3) Similar issue with the shoulder “bumps” – I think this sort of detail will be lost in the small scale. 

4) Need to draw or not draw where exactly we want the embroidery. Makes sense to think about how the seamstress has to use an embroidery machine to go over the areas where we want black sewn into the body. It’s either there or not – so draw it like you’d sew it.

I think it might make sense for you to start fresh on a blank page. Make your goal: “Design Spec Sheet” and try to think about what you’re drawing from the perspective of the person who has to cut these elements out of fabric and stitch them into the shapes you want. That will mean simplifying things greatly. Work with basic geometries and reduce complexity. Show a clear path where you want the tattoos stitched in.

What would you add to that? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll continue to refine and adjust. At the same time, I’m pushing the factory to start on a physical sample… it’s always easier to push the design in the right direction when referring to a physical model. And I expect we’ll have several models created over the course of this process. 

 A quick reminder that these are production sample illustrations intended to guide the factory in piecing together this plush toy. And that everything you see is Work In Progress. We still have many weeks and lots of changes in front of us… so keep that in mind when commenting! 

Crowd Design Session #9 (EU Version)

Speaking of Insane Children Crowd Designing stuff, we’re hosting a Crowd Design Session for our Insane Children in the EU! The timing looks like…

12PM (Noon) on April 30th, London Time. 

We host these on our Discord Server, which you can learn about HERE. 

Please join us! We’ll continue our discussion of Game Play concepts from the Community Ideas section of the Asylum Wiki. 

You can check out the last Crowd Design session over on my YouTube Channel.

No Live Stream This Week

As the heading suggests… there will be NO Live Stream on YouTube this week. If this upsets you then please kindly shake your fist at the Labor Day Holiday. /shakes fist… grrrrr. We’ll be back to our normal schedule the following week. Might even do an EU Stream… Yeah?

Alice Cosplay Book

Font Lord came up with a cool idea which we’re now kicking around… a collector quality book featuring a bunch of our favorite cos-players. 

Alex mocked up cover artwork for this book which would be a collection of some of really amazing cos-play designs from around the world. We’re considering this as our next big Kickstarter Campaign. Right now, we’re weighing options… Should we do “Out of the Woods 2” or a collection of new, original fairy tales (illustrated), or this cos-play book, or ??? 

Let us know what you think! Do you like the clean, white treatment for the cover of this book? Would you support the creation of a book like this? 

Tell us what you think in the comments below! 

More On The Way!

Even though it’s a holiday, I’ll still post updates this week – and there’s lots of cool new art from Joey, Sonny, Omri, Alex, and Norm on the way! Yay! 

From Shanghai (not yet) in Labor,

-American (and Yan)

Dear Insane Children, 

Have you ever encountered chaos? I mean Capital “C”  Chaos. The kind that obliterates the nature of reality and strips meaning from the bones of your life? An encounter which eventually leads to an understanding of the religious “Hell” as a frame of existence waiting for us, inside us, right here on earth?

I know it’s become fashionable in some circles to wear victim-hood like a literal hood so people see our scars as who we are. But when you’ve experienced true Chaos you realize that scars don’t really change you. They can’t reshape who are you are. They are, like tattoos, surface reflections of an idea of event. 

Chaos doesn’t leave scars. It leaves nothing. It dissolves the semblance of order and leaves in its place a void, a vacuum. A scar is something you can see and touch. On your arm, where the oil splashed and burnt you to the bone. Chaos removes your arm.

When it’s done there’s nothing left but to rebuild. From scratch and with only one arm. Blinded by confusion, rage, pain, and crushed from within by a big gaping hole which uselessly swallows everything you throw into it. 

But you can and must rebuild. That’s who we are. Agents of change bringing order to the Chaos. 

Off With Her Head

Omri sends along a visage from the depths of Chaos. Who knew… something good could come out of those terrible Star Wars movies!

And a suitable environment in which she can live. 

I really love the detail of Alice’s White Rabbit Plush being held hostage in a cage. This will form a critical plot point in Asylum and provide the leverage necessary for the Queen to order Alice to do her bidding. 

Let’s hear your thoughts on Chaos, Queens, and Hostages in the comments below!

Live Stream

Seems I’ve stabilized the VPN connection (for now). Sadly, I received news that the recent turbulence being experienced across China is related to the upcoming May holidays (Labor Day) and is expected to last 2+ months. Rumor has it the PRC government is anxious about unrest and taking steps to keep people calm and orderly. That includes extending the May holiday while encouraging people to take nice vacations, plus clamping down on Internet communications. Arg!

Anyway, let’s do this thing! 9AM Hong Kong Time, 6PM PST… the usual:

Hit THIS LINK to head over to YouTube and set a reminder. 

Got QUESTIONS or SUGGESTIONS you’d like addressed? Drop them into the comments below so that Font Lord can print them out and bring them to the stream! 

Look forward to seeing you all tomorrow! 

From Shanghai with Lulu, 

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

Just a quick note to remind you that we have another Crowd Design Session on the schedule for tomorrow at the usual time. That’s 9AM Hong Kong Time on Tuesday. 6PM PST on Monday 22/4/19.

Join us as we continue to discuss Ideas and Suggestions for Alice: Asylum under the topic of “Game Play.” The discuss we had last week covered a lot of suggestions under this topic and a lot of fun was had along the way. 

Our crowd design sessions are done via our Discord Server. If you’d like more info on how to join and use Discord, please check out THIS LINK. 

Pirate Jam Episode #3

Also a quick note that I just uploaded Episode #3 from Pirate Jam 2019. 

Please check that out over on YouTube. Give it a Like and leave a comment! 

This episode features one of the pirate games that had me laughing the hardest – synchronized swimming! 

Hit THIS LINK to shiver your timbers, matey. 

From Shanghai with Arg,

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

Happy Easter to you all! Here in China we don’t really celebrate Easter. But I remember China + Jesus being one of those things that got me in trouble as a kid in Sunday School. I distinctly recall asking the teacher, “But what about all those kids in China? Won’t they go to hell if Jesus doesn’t speak Chinese?”

Teacher’s response: (frown)

Anyway, now I am in China and I’m pretty sure Jesus never came to visit here. There just aren’t that many Mexican food places. I think he’d starve to death. (In case you don’t get the joke: I grew up in Texas and often saw Jesus represented as Hispanic).

Cheshire Kitten Plush

Omri sends along an updated version of the Cheshire Kitten Plush (above). 

Based on the last few posts on this topic I think we’re all leaning pretty heavily towards “make a plush now, make other stuff later” – right? So… we’ll focus on the plush for now and do other stuff later (or at the same time for some of those things). 

Let us know in the comments below how you feel about these updates. He’s had his ears adjusted; been made to look a little more wicked/evil; and apparently has a … butt… now? Most of this is per your requests. I don’t know about the butt. Who suggested that?!

Anyway, comments! Feedback! 

Alex sent along some simple renders of Alice … mostly as a test or suggestion for images we might put on future bags, shirts, etc. But I thought this might also be a good way to show the sort of bag I was thinking for the Cheshire Plush. Now… we could go all “historically accurate” and do another canvas bag (as with the White Rabbit Plush bag). 

Or we could do something in waterproof nylon and make it 100% functional as a daily-use item. Personally, I am leaning towards something like the design you see above. Maybe in black? Maybe with a Cheshire Kitten paw print on one side and one of our favorite Cheshire Cat Quotes on the other side? 

What do you think of that idea? What quote would you put on the other side of the bag? 

Feedback around the bag idea in general? 

Sample Process Started

While we continue to collect your feedback on these designs I’ve sent this latest illustration to our plush makers and asked them to consider how they might tackle this task. They’re already asking me about materials, eyes, stitching, size, etc… 

Once we have a range of options put together, I’ll share that info here for your consideration. 

This is fun! I really like making toys! How about you? 

From Shanghai with Lulu Bunny,

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes where we discuss art, design, and other elements of Alice: Asylum as ideas emerge from the miasma? Well, it’s not very glamorous but it looks something like this: 

Omri emails me a rough sketch for a Train Station / Library area (above) and says… 

This is just the general feel/concept of the train stations. as we said Train and Library, The pictures can be portals like Joey did, Tightropes, Ropes, ladders, whatever. i merged a ton of photos together with a safe color scheme so we’ll have a feel of how it should be.
I had several thoughts.

1. It can be (not a level) an “Area” that will merge organically OR have a “Wall” around the place, in that case it can be located where ever we want it to be.

To which I reply: We’re saying this will be “A Hub” area… but there are many instances in games where hub areas can be accessed (sometimes instantly) from anywhere else in the game. Player can quickly teleport to/from a hub, especially in cases where player has explored a certain area and unlocked the line-station “connector” in that area. 
Remember, in AMR, we showed the remains of the old Looking Glass Railway… 

So… we should build on top of these… it’ll make it look like we planned all along to include train stations in the prequel game. Hmmm… maybe that was the plan all along?  

2. we Can “close” it in a single building, not an area, smaller, more demure, not this concept.

I think it’s an area and a building inside an area. It can/should be both.  

3. We can do it like in “Hollow Knight” 
Where it’s not a place more of a What. The train can just Be in places and there will be a tiny Hut next to it and that’s it. with minimal tracks, it can even Float so it will be able to literally go anywhere. it can be made of books/paper.

Well… in all the areas to which we travel we can establish a small station (as pictured above) which player can use to instantly travel back to The Hub (the library/station thing) or to other (already explored) areas of the game. Again, lots of games do this, and it’s a clear/easy thing for players to hop on board.  

4. I think it depends on How large the map will be and how many “Side missions” we’ll have. If it’s not a Very big game like “Mass Effect” it’s wasting resources that can go towards more worlds than just an unnecessary complex train thing.

Don’t know yet. Let’s explore. 

5. The BIG question is how many train stations do we have? and WHERE? each one will dictate the styling and size of that area/building/hut. OR will the trains be like the burning doors in AMR?

Don’t know yet. Let’s explore.  

6. CROWS. Tons of them. No idea why.

Yes, but “ravens” not crows. Why is a raven like a writing desk? Because the train is coming…  

7. Do you have any idea who will be the art director for the new game? i just wondered

I do not. Do you have someone in mind? Do you think you could tackle it?  

8. I think the “Brain” connections should show in Gameplay and not in visual interpretation. in that case, each station will not work, be broken down, Alice will fix it and gain each time a “fast travel” location. Again, if needed, if that’s the direction.

Yes. Like said above. We’re on the same wavelength… train track… brain track. 

—

And there you have it!! The Intense Creativity which drives the Magical Manifestation of a new Alice Game into existence. 

But seriously, I am so very happy we’re bringing this world to life. Very happy to have such talented artists on our team. And very, very happy to have YOU, Insane Children, helping us all the way. Yay!

Meanwhile Alex has some ideas for a cushion / bag idea. I wasn’t too keen on the idea of a bag but now that I’ve seen this I can kinda get behind it. Still think I’d prefer a plush of the Cheshire Kitten… but let us know what YOU think. 

Were you a fan of the bag idea before? Does this make you want one more or less? 

Did you hate the bag idea before and now… maybe it’s not so bad? Love it? Still hate it?

Throw some constructive feedback our way in the comments below! 

And for those of you who were raving about the Cheshire Plush idea… fear not! We’re working on production guidance images to send the factory. That way we can get a sample made and see if it makes sense to pursue the idea further. Expect updates on that soon!

Half-Live Stream

We did host a live stream yesterday and had a lot of fun… though it died about 1.5 hours into the stream. VPN sadness!

Anyway, if you missed it and want to catch up on art, design, Pirate Jam, prizes, etc… 

Hit THIS LINK!

We’ll be back next week with a Crowd Design session, another Live Stream, and… who knows what the future might bring?!

Look forward to your thoughts and feedback in comments below!

From Shanghai with Trains, 

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

LOTS of STUFF in this post! Ghost House Images, Live Stream Info, and Cheshire Cat “Things”… Please SCROLL to the BOTTOM to see it all! 

When I was a child (and insane) we went every year to the State Fair of Texas. And among all the rides my favorite was the “haunted house” – a rickety ride through a series of darkly lit pneumatic jump scares. There were witches and goblins and ghosts and more… strobe lights and over-amplified screams played through long-dead speakers. 

Child me is very happy to see that we’re resurrecting these themes in the new game. How does child you feel about all this? 

All these elements derive from the section of Asylum in which Alice “visits” the Tweedles. 

As we’ve explored with the Circus Dress she’ll be forced to wear… as she escapes this extra-twisted Wonderland domain. 

Excellent new illustrations from Joey to help us define what’s in store! 

Live Stream Time

Now that I’m back from Pirate Jam and my tan is slowly fading… Arrrg, fadey.

We’ve scheduled our next Live Stream for 9AM on Thursday morning (Hong Kong Time) which is April 17th @ 6PM PST. 

Hit THIS LINK to set a reminder over on YouTube. And remember, the YouTube notification system (and most everything else about YouTube) sucks… so also set a reminder on your washing machine or something. 

While you are on my YouTube Channel, also consider giving a few recent videos a watch, a thumbs up, etc… helps with the algorithm and all that. Thank you! 

Cheshire Cat “Thing” Workshop 

In talking with Omri, Alex, Joey, and others about a Cheshire Cat Plush… we’ve decided to explore other ways in which we might present something related to the Cheshire Cat/Kitten. One concern is that a “plush” designed around the either the original or “kitten” version of the cat probably won’t be very “plush.” In order to achieve a close resemblance to the cat would mean the toy would probably require a wire skeleton. 

So here are two ideas which address that concern: 

That’s a Cheshire Cat/Kitten Pillow! Meow! My first impressions on seeing this were: 

1) That’s cool. I’d definitely throw that on my sofa. And I talked with Yan about fabric printing, manufacturing, etc… and she says we can make something like this happen in high quality, for a decent price, etc. 

2) If we re-did this a bit and threw some straps on it… Cheshire Head Purse! Or put two straps on it and… Cheshire Head Backpack! Meow?

This is the plush-ification of the Cheshire Kitten. “Did you like The White Rabbit Plush? Then you’re going to LOVE the Cheshire Kitten Plush!” (marketing voice) 

This is the adjustment required to fit a Cheshire design into a plush format. I don’t know what a final plush based on this might look like… but maybe we should go ahead and ask the factory to create a prototype?

The worse thing that’ll happen is we’ll get a Cheeto Cheshire. 

So… those are the Two Options on the table as of this morning. I guess it’s technically three options if we convert the pillow into a purse/backpack. 

Please Discuss what’s presented here in the comments below. We’re looking for constructive feedback! If you like something – why? If you dislike something – how can it be improved? And do you have alternate ideas for products based on a Cheshire Cat design, form, etc? 

A Cheshire Hat? A Cheshire Shower Mat? How about a Cheshire Rat? Eek!

Alright… Enough of that.

I look forward to your comments and working with you to create a cool new thing!

From Shanghai with Cheshire Tat,

-American